CHESAPEAKE BAY OYSTER
METRICS TEAM REPORT
STEPHANIE REYNOLDS WESTBY
Presentation to Maryland Oyster Advisory Commission
May 18, 2011
Oyster Metrics Team: Context
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Executive Order 13508: Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the
Chesapeake Bay Watershed
•
Oyster Outcome:
Restore native oyster habitats
and populations
in 20 tributaries by 2025
• Oyster Metrics Team convened by Chesapeake
Bay Program Sustainable Fisheries GIT
• Goal was defined;
Team was convened by GIT to clarify
goal and establish common metrics
Oyster Metrics Team: Charge
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• Develop common Bay-wide restoration
goals, success metrics and monitoring and
assessment protocols for the purpose of
tracking toward the EO strategy outcome
(reef-level and tributary-level)
• For sanctuary reefs only
• Minimum suite of metrics that should be
measured across all sanctuary reefs
• Should in no way be seen as limiting additional monitoring
and research activity.
•As always: adaptive.
Oyster Metrics Team: Charge
4
Membership:
• NOAA (Stephanie Westby)
• MD DNR (Eric Weissberger)
• VMRC (Jim Wesson)
• PRFC ( AC Carpenter)
• U.S. Army Corps (Angie Sowers)
• VIMS (Mark Luckenbach)
• UMCES (Ken Paynter)
• Consulting scientists
• Science-driven consensus process among the
primary governmental agencies involved in
oyster restoration in the Bay
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Oyster Metrics Team: Approach
Reef Level:
Functional
goals
Operational
goals
Trib Level:
Functional
goals
Ultimate
goals of
restoration:
How it
functions
over time
Operational
goals
Practical goals:
What you plan for;
put in the water
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Oyster Metrics Team: Goals & Metrics
Reef Level:
• Stable or increasing spatial extent, reef height and shell
budget
• Oyster density:
oTarget: Mean density of 50 oysters/m2 and
50 grams dry weight /m2
containing at least two year classes
covering at least 30% of the reef area
o Minimum Threshold: Mean density of 15
oysters/m2 and 15 grams dry weight /m2
containing at least two year classes
covering at least 30% of the reef area
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Oyster Metrics Team: Goals & Metrics
Trib Level:
• Restore, to the reef-level goals, 50 -100% of
currently restorable oyster habitat.
• Recommend that this be pursued in tributaries for
which currently restorable bottom minimally meets
the ACOE targets related to the percent of historical
bottom (min. of 8% of Yates/ Baylor ground)
• Trib size: recommend TNC ‘creek’ and
‘small tributary’ size classifications.
(Recommendation- not a goal)
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Contact Information
Stephanie Reynolds Westby
410-295-3153
[email protected]